Things I Like to Eat

Several years ago I needed a gross bug-eating song that would catch the imagination of my little students. I'd sing it, they'd think it was gross, barf up their lunch all over the floor, thus giving the janitors something extra to do that day.

So, this is what I came up with. It's more lyrics to a song than an actual poem, but sometimes the twain can meet, and this is as "twainey" as it gets.

Things I Like to Eat

By Tracy Farr

Many many years ago when I was just a squirt,
I'd go out to the garden and I'd play in all the dirt,
And if I got real hungry I just took a look around,
And I ate almost anything a crawling on the ground,

Like...

Rolly-polly doodle bugs and hot and spicy ants,
Soft and chewy caterpillars crawling up my pants.
Crunchy little crickets, oh, they never made me squirm
And for desert I'd swallow down a slinky, slimy worm.

When my mother called me in for lunch she gave to me,
A sandwich, chips, a glass of milk and stalks of celery,
But I refused to eat a bite, my mother asked my why
I said, "I prefer to dine on things that creep and crawl and fly,

Like...

Rolly-polly doodle bugs and hot and spicy ants,
Soft and chewy caterpillars crawling down my pants.
Crunchy little crickets, ah, they never made me squirm
And for desert I'd swallow down a slinky, slimy worm."


Now that I am married with a wife and family,
I eat steak and chicken wings, corn and broccoli,
But late at night, a midnight snack is what I'm dreaming of,
I head out to the garden and I eat the things I love.

Like..

Rolly-polly doodle bugs and hot and spicy ants,
Soft and chewy caterpillars crawling up my pants.
Crunchy little crickets, oh, they never made me squirm
And for desert I'd swallow down a slinky, slimy worm.

(NOTE: It's even better when sung to the banjo!)